William Edward Savery
William Edward Savery (1877-1936)
1877 Born the son of Thomas Ackers Savery (1848-1921)
1936 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM EDWARD SAVERY was a direct descendant of Captain Thomas Savery the collaborator with Newcomen and the predecessor of James Watt.
Mr. Savery was born at Edgbaston, Birmingham, in 1877, and was educated at King Edward's Grammar School and Birmingham Technical School.
In 1894 he commenced a three years' apprenticeship with Messrs. Piercy and Company, at Broad Street Engine Works, Birmingham.
Subsequently he was employed by Messrs. T. Chatwin, with whom he gained experience in gas engine and machine tool design, and with the Lanchester Engine Company.
In 1904 he founded, with his brother, the firm of Messrs. T. A. Savery and Company, Ltd., engineers and boilermakers, Newcomen Works, Birmingham.
On his brother's retirement in 1915 Mr. Savery became managing director, and ultimately chairman of the company. His chief work was in connexion with high-speed machinery for steam launches, including a system of liquid fuel firing for water-tube boilers. At the time of his death, which occurred on 17th July 1936, he was actively interested in the development of a new type of pump for providing pulseless flow at high pressures for use in the artificial silk industry. The pump has also been adopted as an aero-engine auxiliary, and for other industrial purposes.
Mr. Savery was elected a Member of the Institution in 1918.
He was also one of the founders of the Newcomen Society.